Friday, July 11, 2008

My better half was asking me yesterday afternoon "what on earth is happening to this country?". Most Malaysians would have been asking the same questions these past few weeks. Disbelief, shock, despair and being simply "fed up" seem to be the impressions left on the common people.

The MSM (mainstream media) are still "lost in space" in reporting the news; still being beholden to their political masters and hence unable to portray the news as it unfolds without having to put a spin on it.

At least a couple of renowned bloggers have decided to temporarily go "on strike". Yet others are encouraging their readers to push for political change even more, while the man and woman in the street probably feel they have better things to do instead of being caught up in the "mother of all wayang kulits".

Personally, I believe that we shouldn't be distracted by either extreme. I'd rather take the middle path. We can't simply afford to getting caught up with all the useless propaganda yet at the same time can't let those in positions of power to dictate an ultimatum to us without having a say in it.

"All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing", said Irish philosopher Edmund Burke. This is what we must be constantly aware of. We must be able to chart our own destiny, despite and in spite of those in power. We need to remind ourselves that in reality, we the people are the masters, and those that govern us, our servants. We must never forget that.

In that respect, to recap why the Malaysia of today is where she is now, we need to look at the past. By looking back, we can understand the present and chart the future. To a certain extent at least. Which is why this article by Ahmad Mustapha, an ex-student activist, ex-civil servant and diplomat, ex-General Manager of Bernama is a must read:

"I must say at the outset that Malaysia has no Roadmap to Nationhood.....The only Malaysian leader who ever had any roadmap at all was Tun Dr. Mahathir Mohamad. His roadmap was on how to become an absolute autocrat. He started off with the crippling of the civil service. Under him, it was no more the service with integrity like in the 50’s and 60’s. In order to survive, politicians at the grassroot took over power from the civil servants" Read his full article here.